Former Kansas prison employee says she was harassed for being transgender, files lawsuit

A transgender woman alleges she faced discrimination while working for the Kansas Department of Corrections, including not being allowed to use the women’s restroom and being moved to a basement office that had been a supply closet.

Shelly Lamb filed a federal lawsuit on Tuesday.

From March 2008 until August 2022, Lamb worked at Hutchinson Correctional Facility as a counselor and then a supervisor.

In October 2021, Lamb informed the corrections department that she was transitioning to female. According to the lawsuit, she was told she could not wear makeup, nail polish or women’s clothing to work, and that other employees would not be required to call her by her current name or use female pronouns. Lamb said she was also told she was not allowed to use the women’s restroom.

She “experienced regular harassment from other employees who refused to use her correct new name and female pronouns,” the lawsuit said.

About three months later, Lamb obtained a legal name change. The department’s records were not updated for two months, the lawsuit said.

It also alleges that the agency reassigned Lamb’s subordinates to a different supervisor and took away her counseling cases.

After transitioning, she was relocated to a basement office that had been a supply closet. The lawsuit claims she was moved to isolate her from others and to pressure her to resign.

The lawsuit alleges the department engaged in sex discrimination and retaliation, and that Lamb quit because of the work environment.

David Thompson, a spokesman for the Department of Corrections, said the agency does not comment on pending litigation.